Weston Ranch standout David Molina keeps his eyes on the ball after his feet were taken from underneath him during a six-goal performance against the Lathrop Spartans Tuesday.

JAGADA CHAMBERS/The Bulletin

WESTON RANCH – After the first half of play it was all Weston Ranch, and nothing changed over the final 40 minutes of action, during the Cougars’ 11-1 thrashing of the Lathrop Spartans Tuesday.

Cougars standout David Molina put on an exhibition of sorts, connecting for six of the team’s 11 goals and still finding the time to donate a penalty kick opportunity to teammate Juan Martinez after taking a hard foul in the box.

“You can be the best player in the world,” Weston Ranch head coach Carlos Gaspar said. “But it takes a player like David, to get fouled hard like that, and what does he do? He goes to a player that barely plays and says I want you to take this kick.

“To me, that’s what a great soccer player is.”

Weston Ranch (3-6, Valley Oak League, 4-10-1 overall) got all the offense it would need early on, jumping out on the senior-less Spartans 5-1 after one half of play. The Cougars would add another half-dozen goals, while Lathrop, clearly outmatched, was only able to get a single shot on goal.

The Spartans however showed no quit, giving first year coach Ryan Biedermann something to build on for the remainder of the season.

“My guys show a lot of effort and they just don’t quit,” Biedermann said after the loss. “Even when we’re down considerably, they just keep playing hard. I’m impressed by their effort, but we still have a lot of work to do and these guys are willing to do it.”

Molina proved to be too tough for Lathrop to stop, scoring at an alarming rate. The sophomore continuously kept his unselfishness on display, surrendering goals to teammates when shots kept presenting themselves to him.

Weston Ranch was obviously the better team on the field, yet the growing pains for Lathrop are nothing new to a Cougars program who took their share of bumps and bruises during their debut season in Valley Oak League play.

“I don’t like to ring up the scores,” Gaspar said. “We got up 3-0 and I switched things around, pulled out my goalie. Lathrop is a young team and they have a new coach stepping in to lead the team. They moved the ball pretty well.

“Give Lathrop some time, they are going to be alright.”

Weston Ranch got goals from all over the pitch, including the double hat-trick for Molina and single goals from B.J. Gonzales, Bryan Baldeon, Christian Ascencio and Edwardo Pacheco. Alvaro Munoz got the barrage of scoring underway with the game’s first goal.

The Cougars will get a little time off and come back rested for a tough challenge in Central Valley. Weston Ranch is capable of putting up a strong fight with the first-place Hawks, yet it depends on which Cougar squad shows up to the field.

“We have a week off right now,” Gaspar said. “And it doesn’t matter what we’ve done in the last eight games. Anybody in this league can be beat. If you play strong and mark the guys you have a chance like anybody else in this league.”